We have three cool Kickstarter projects to tell you about today.  Let’s see what happens when a comic book, a surf-guitar album and a trading card set walk into a PopCult post.

Two are from proven creators that we’ve plugged here in the past, while the third is long-awaited launch of a comic book based on a toy I’ve told you a lot about lately. That campaign just launched today, while the other two have less than two weeks left, so let’s just jump in, because these are really nifty things, indeed.

Super Joe Unlimited

Originally introduced in 1977 as “…a new team: the SUPER JOE ADVENTURE TEAM answers the call anywhere in the galaxy,” Super Joe was the amazing, but short-lived follow-up to the 12 inch G.I. Joe.

It consisted of eight different figures: Super Joe Commander (white and black); Super Joe Adventurer (white and black); The Night Fighters (Shield and Luminos); and Darkon and Gor (the enemies of the Super Joe team). Each figure came with features new to action figures at the time, the “1-2 Punch” and “light-up action.”

I’ve been telling you about the toy revival of Super Joe for months, and I’ve mentioned the comic book, back when the preview poster of the cover of the first issue was sold at ToyLanta. Now the time has come to launch the campaign to get this book into the hands of the collectors. From Power Comics, the folks who brought us The Masters, comes Super Joe Unlimited.

First, the premise:

The year is 2100, and the world has been at peace for decades due to the success of the previous generation’s superheroes. These mightiest of Earth’s mortals achieved what no other generation could; decades-long peace and harmony amongst all it’s people.

That time of peace and harmony was so successful that superheroes became obsolete; a thing of the past, resigned to the subject of bedtime stories parents tell their children at night. As the world’s greatest super heroes grew old, retired, and passed away, there were no new superheroes coming up to take their place. There was simply no need.

But nothing lasts forever. We all know that the universe abhors a vacuum, and one fateful day the peace and tranquility that humankind had grown so accustomed to was shattered.

Out of nowhere emerged Darkon, a creature of unknown origin leading an army of summoned monsters called Gors. Darkon and his Gor army attacked the peaceful people of Earth. Civilians, police and the military forces of Earth rose up in defense, but years of peace and the unprecedented power of this invasion rendered the defenders nearly powerless.

While the defenders of Earth tried to hold back Darkon’s army, the world’s greatest minds gathered in a desperate attempt to understand the attackers, and figure out how to save humanity. No consensus could be reached as to what the attackers really were; transformed humans? Demons? Aliens? Something else? Evidence for and against each explanation was produced to no final agreement.

While the nature of the attackers was unclear, what was clear was Earth was losing this battle. So desperate was the situation that one scientist was forced to speak up and reveal a deep secret that might present a solution. He revealed a secret project he ran years before, not sponsored or sanctioned by any government.

The project was a study in the nature of the superheroes of old; the genetic markers in humanity that could lead to the development of super powers, and the environmental factors that would drive such development. Using carefully-hoarded samples of superhero blood, and samples of the general population, the team was able to find the links, isolate them, and use them to create first clones of famous super heroes of the past, and with later refinements, a new generation of super heroes with even more versatile powers and intelligence. The Super Joe project, as it was code-named, had created a small army of superior clones; an entire army of Super Joes.

While the scientist and others on the Super Joe project team felt they had achieved success, they also had strong ethical concerns about what they had done, as well as concerns about potential safety risks to the non-enhanced populace. This caused the team to place the Super Joes into cryogenic suspension, where they remained until now, held in reserve in case of an insurmountable threat to the people of Earth.

Now, with the armies of Darkon threatening the remaining free nations of Earth, the scientist revealed the secret Super Joe army, realizing that only they could turn the tide of this war. The Super Joes would now be awoken and called upon to save the world. Their time had arrived!

The creative team includes some classic Bronze Age artists, alongside some talented newcomers:  Bob Hall, Steven Butler, Geoff Isherwood, Netho Diaz, James Brown, Austin Hough and more have all contributed to this title.

There are loads of add-on rewards, in addition to the comic book. You can get limited edition figures, new Super Joe Unlimited figures, vintage figures and accessories, reduced-price admissions to JoeLanta (in August), collector coins, Randall Wall-designed ArtLab playsets, original art from the comic book and more. Kick in early, some of the higher tiers are limited.

Guitarmy of One  The Wave Files

Next up we have the second album from Scott Helland’s Guitarmy of One project, The Wave Files.  Scott is also known as “The Punk” of “Frenchy and” fame, and his first Guitarmy of One album kicked at least three dozen distinct and impressive kinds of ass.  Here’s what Scott says about the new album:

This new record will feature 10 brand new original songs that have more of a surf guitar influence than my 2021 ‘The Spy Detective Collective’ record. The Wave Files theme is espionage on the open sea and the song titles reference 60s and 70s spy and detective shows like Kolchak the Nightstalker in the song ‘Kolchak meets the Sea Mobster’, Hawaii 50 in ‘Jack Lord of the Sea’, Soylent Green in “Soylent Seafoam Green’ and The Saint in ‘Seance for the Saint’, as well as real life mobsters like Legs Diamond in ‘Sea Legs Diamond’.

I want this record to be your new favorite instrumental Surf Spy guitar album!

There are 12 days left in this campaign, and it’s well past the halfway point in terms of funding.  Scott’s offering a variety of reward tiers, from getting a single tune to racking up the whole album on CD, USB Flashdrive, or just the files. At higher tiers you can get t-shirts, hoodies, patches, beach towels, tote bags, Notebooks and even UNDERWEARS!

Check out the video below, then go pledge. We all want to hear this album!

Fearsome Weirdos Haunted Heaps

Robert Jimenez is back with the latest entry in his Fearsome Weirdos trading card series, Haunted Heaps.

For the last few years Jimenez has been producing his own really cool trading card sets and successfully funding them on Kickstarter. He’s built up a huge fanbase for his Fearsome Weirdos, Ghouls of Yule, Startling Lineup and other cool sets. Now he’s turned his focus on hot rods.  Fearsome Weirdos Haunted Heaps is a 24 card set, with an additional 8 card product parody subset. This is Jimenez taking on the world of Weird-Ohs and Nutty Mads, only with his own macabre twist.

Haunted Heaps is the 5th Fearsome Weirdos set. It’s a collection of Macabre Motorists and their Vile Vehicles.

The base set is made up of a Wrapper/Checklist, 15 Character Cards, 8 Devilish Delivery Vehicles and an 8 card subset, Gruesome Groceries, which highlights those products being delivered. The set also includes a lenticular card, a holographic sticker and a promo card, all packaged in a tuck box! Also available as rewards and add-ons are sketch cards, past Fearsome Weirdos sets, original art, a coloring book and more!

The set is written and illustrated by Jimenez with some writing assists by Paul Harris and Peter Zeis.

With eleven days left to go in the campaign, this project is already hella-funded, exceeding its goal by a factor of five, so you know you’ll get your rewards.  Aside from pointing you to the campaign page and posting the video below, I can’t write much more here because I’ve got a short piece on this set coming up in the next Non Sport Update magazine.  So go support it. You know what to do.